Mirror World: Destined Return

The sound of blood boiling inside the thousand blood tanks echoed at a low amplitude like the breaths of a sleeping beast. Sang-Sik stood at the entrance like a log, staring at the blood tanks. He could catch up to his comrades and escape if he wanted to, but he didn’t. He still had something left to do.

Sang-Sik lit the Zippo Lighter of Memories and mumbled seriously, “Damn vampires... How could they do something so horrible to fellow living beings?”

He stared at the fire, recalling what he had seen beyond the blood collection site.

***

[Activating Unique Skill: Crime Scene.]

The skill revealed the truth behind the giant hole. Around a dozen vampire guards arrived at the hole with a wheelbarrow, carrying a pile of withered humans, on the verge of death from having too much blood taken.

They flipped the wheelbarrow, and the powerless humans fell to the ground. The vampire guards then grabbed the humans one by one and sank their teeth into their necks as if it were a regular occurrence. The humans who got their blood sucked writhed in pain and turned into bloodfiends.

Five of the dozen guards who were laughing mockingly at the humans walked forward and placed their hands over the two-meter stone slab. The lid-like barrier over the hole disappeared, and the remaining guards threw the convulsing bloodfiends into it. Once the last bloodfiend was thrown inside, the five guards removed their hands from the stone slab, reforming the barrier.

“Motherfuckers!” Sang-Sik cursed as he canceled Crime Scene.

The vampires created the blood tanks to extract as much blood from humans as possible. Roughly a dozen humans were restrained in one blood tank and were reduced to livestock that existed solely to supply the blood tank with blood.

Once the livestock could no longer produce fresh blood, they were disposed of by being thrown into the hole after they were turned into bloodfiends to spend the rest of their lives writhing in eternal thirst.

“Why would they go that far?!” Sang-Sik shouted.

Although the act itself was brutal, Sang-Sik could instinctively understand why they did so. It was the same as how humans treated livestock on Earth, pragmatically using as much of their carcass as possible.

“It must have been... to create soldiers,” Sang-Sik mumbled.

It made sense to keep them inside this hole to use them as soldiers in emergencies.

Emergencies? Sang-Sik thought.

If he were to think like a vampire, the dungeon closure was a great example of an emergency.

Sang-Sik’s eyes widened as he stared at the stone slab broken into two pieces. He mumbled, “The broken slab... Could it be?!”

A closer look revealed that the barrier over the hole entrance was gone. Sang-Sik quickly ran to it and threw his Zippo lighter, which was still on, into the hole. The lighter spun as it fell.

GYAAAAAHHH!

GRAAAAAHHH!

KAAAAAHHH!

The bloodfiends let out blood-curdling screeches as they used all their might to climb out of the hole. They sank their fingernails in the wall, stepped over other bloodfiends, and used any other means necessary. They looked as if they were trying to climb out of Hell.

“Goddammit!” Sang-Sik shouted.

The humans’ chances of escape dropped dramatically if even one percent of the bloodfiends in the hole escaped. Someone needed to stay behind to buy everyone enough time to escape.

But who? Who will lay down their life to take on this army of bloodfiends?

Just then, an idea popped into Sang-Sik’s head.

***

Sang-Sik rummaged through his pocket and grabbed a wrinkled pack of cigarettes. They weren’t cigarette alternatives that Mirror World residents made, but a pack of nostalgia cigarettes that he had paid a hefty amount of Coins for to celebrate his first anniversary in the Mirror World.

“The last one, too... What are the chances?” Sang-Sik chuckled as he grabbed the last cigarette and put it in his mouth.

He lit the cigarette with the Zippo Lighter of Memories and inhaled deeply. The smoke dissipating in the air put him in a nostalgic state. The smoke from a cigarette was a man’s sigh. Smoking had become a terrible habit when he started copying his seniors in the homicide division. Also, smoking always reminded Sang-Sik of her. He smiled faintly as he recalled a memory.

“You smoke... don’t you?”

“It’s already approaching two years,” he mumbled.

It was the amount of time that had passed since his wife passed away from pancreatic cancer.

***

“Huuu! Haaa!” Sang-Sik covered his mouth with his hands and blew on it as he stared into a mirror at a police station, the words “Good conduct” written on it.

“What are you doing, Chief Inspector?” a junior asked as he approached Sang-Sik.

“Stay away from me!” Sang-Sik shouted once he noticed the junior approaching from the mirror.

“Pardon?”

“You’re gonna get the stench of cigarettes all over me!”

“What do you—Huh? Why are you wearing a suit, Chief Inspector? Are you having dinner with the commissioner?” the junior asked with wide eyes.

Sang-Sik waved his hand at the junior as if to shoo him away and replied, “Just go do whatever job you have to do. Have you caught Na Tae-Soo, that son of a bitch?”

“Not yet.”

“You’re a homicide detective, and you can’t even catch a petty thief? Are you going on blind dates instead of doing your job?”

“Sheesh, I’m going, I’m going,” the junior said as he sighed, noticing an incoming nagging spree.

Sang-Sik turned back to the mirror and smiled, doing one final smell check on his suit sleeves. The blind date had actually been about himself. It had already been a decade since he had gone on a date, using work as an excuse. A nosy friend couldn’t bear to see Sang-Sik all by himself and decided to introduce him to an acquaintance.

Sang-Sik was about to refuse, but what his friend told him changed his mind.

“She was super interested in meeting you once I mentioned you’re a homicide detective.”

“Really?”

“You bet. Her eyes were literally sparkling.”

“Ahem, h-hello. Greetings? Hi... God, dealing with felons is easier than this,” Sang-Sik sighed as he practiced greetings.

All his dating cells had died from being single for so long.

“Just be simple. Nice and simple.”

Sang-Sik had not even smoked a single cigarette in the past week because he did not recall ever seeing a woman who liked men who smoked.

“Don’t speak, just listen... Don’t try to be excessively funny... Don’t make them walk for a while...” Sang-Sik recited the dating tips he had researched online as he looked at his watch. It was 5:45 PM. “Minus one million points if you’re late!”

He grabbed his jacket and stormed out of the station.

***

Lotte World in Seoul was one of the few theme parks in Korea where it was okay to remove one’s hazmat suit because it was covered with several layers of glass domes. Sang-Sik met his blind date at an Italian restaurant because online dating experts advised against foods containing red pepper powder.

His date had long, straight hair and was wearing jeans, a white turtleneck sweater, and a beige coat. She looked highly polished compared to Sang-Sik, who was wearing a well-ironed suit that he only wore to weddings or funerals a few times a year.

“Hello, my name is Kim Sae-Byeok[1],” the woman greeted.

“H-hello, my name is Ma Sang-Sik[2].” Sang-Sik suppressed his withering spirit and smiled as kindly as possible. “You have a beautiful name.”

“Really? Thank you very much. I could say the same for you. You have a very strong-sounding name. Perhaps it’s because you’re a detective.”

“Haha, my parents named me that way in hopes that I would live a sensible life.”

Sang-Sik immediately regretted what he said. He had brought out his repertoire of jokes that he often used with his colleagues. Thankfully, Sae-Byeok laughed.

“Pfft! You have a great sense of humor.”

Sang-Sik’s courage grew from her response. He asked, “What is your favorite food?”

“Kimchi stew.”

“Pardon?” Sang-Sik said, his thought process halting.

“But today, I’m in the mood for pasta alle vongole,” Sae-Byeok added with a smile.

Realizing she was messing with him, Sang-Sik laughed in response and said, “Haha, then why don’t we go and check it out?”

“Check what out?” Sae-Byeok asked.

“If they make the vongole[3].”

Sae-Byeok remained silent, simply blinking.

Cold sweat trickled down Sang-Sik’s back as he shouted inwardly, I’m fucked!

The punny joke did not work this time. Sang-Sik flusteredly said, “Oh, this is part of the Chief Inspector joke series that I often use at the station... checking out the vongole...”

“Checking out... the vongole?” Sae-Byeok repeated, then covered her mouth to giggle. “Say that again?”

“Uhhh... I’m sorry—”

“Give me some more,” Sae-Byeok interrupted.

“Pardon? More of what?”

“The Chief Inspector joke series,” Sae-Byeok said as she placed her arms on the table and leaned forward as if wanting to hear more.

A floral scent tickled Sang-Sik’s nose. Sang-Sik stared dumbfoundedly at her smiling eyes and said, “Then... let’s start with mistake and T-bone steak...”

***

Sang-Sik and Sae-Byeok walked around Lotte World after finishing their meal because Sae-Byeok mentioned she wanted to ride the merry-go-round.

Am I... doing well? It’s not the worst date ever, is it? Sang-Sik wondered as he peeked at Sae-Byeok walking beside him, who seemed to be having a good time.

Sae-Byeok turned to Sang-Sik and said, “To tell you the truth... I imagined a scary person who smokes all the time when I heard you’re a homicide detective.”

“Oh,” Sang-Sik hid his right hand behind his back without realizing it.

“Because my father was like that.”

“Pardon?”

“My father was a detective, too. A homicide detective,” Sae-Byeok said with a smile, and Sang-Sik listened in silence. “A suspect stabbed his neck with a knife. He was immediately sent to the hospital, but... he didn’t make it.”

Sang-Sik stayed silent. Such stories went around in the homicide detectives’ circle—stories of becoming crippled or dying in the line of duty. No, they weren’t just stories; Sang-Sik personally knew a few of them.

Sae-Byeok stared at the silent Sang-Sik and said, “This is the first time.”

“What... do you mean?” Sang-Sik asked.

“Every time I tell this story about my father, the first thing people do is try to console me, saying things like he was a great man.”

Something welled up inside Sang-Sik after hearing that. He shouted, “What’s so great about that? You can be alive and still become great!”

Sae-Byeok was surprised by Sang-Sik’s sudden burst.

Seeing that, Sang-Sik immediately tried to make up for it. “Oh... I’m not saying your father wasn’t a great man... I was just...”

Sae-Byeok stared in silence at the flustered Sang-Sik, then changed the subject as she pointed at a claw machine store. “Wow! That raccoon plushie is so cute.”

“Raccoon?”

“Yes. Are you good with the claw machine?”

“Uhhh... Probably. No, I am! I will get it for you,” Sang-Sik said confidently as he turned to the claw machine store.

Just then, he noticed a slender man with a long nose and slit eyes, wearing a beanie.

“Dammit... there are too many people here,” the man mumbled as he disappeared into an alley.

Huh? That’s him! Sang-Sik’s eyes widened, recognizing the man.

“Please wait here for a moment, Sae-Byeok,” he said.

“Huh?”

Sang-Sik left the confused Sae-Byeok alone and ran into the alley.

1. Sae-Byeok (새벽) means dawn. ☜

2. Sang-Sik (상식) can mean common sense or sensible. ☜

3. I couldn’t think of a way to make this punny in English. Basically, check it out (보고 올래) sounds very similar to vongole (봉골레). ☜